


Rigel and Harry, Together Forever

by SarenAranthel



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Rigel Black Chronicles - murkeybluematter
Genre: Inspired by The Rigel Black Chronicles, TFF14 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-12 20:47:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29515554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SarenAranthel/pseuds/SarenAranthel
Summary: Harriett and Archie decide that her being seen together with Rigel would be a solid alibi. Unfortunately for Harry, Archie happened to leave out a few details of what he had planned...
Comments: 20
Kudos: 103





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> If you happened to neglect reading the tags, this contains spoilers for the end of the Futile Facade, proceed at your own risk. I have nothing to say other than that, except I hope you enjoy!

Harry crossed her arms as she walked, a small frown on her face. It was a decent idea, having Leo Polyjuice as Rigel and having photographers catch the two of them meeting to solidify the idea of there being three distinct persons, so why was she feeling so uneasy? Perhaps it was the mischievous smile on Archie’s face when he’d suggested the idea, or the twinkle in Leo’s eye when he had agreed to it. She could not shake the feeling that there was something the two of them were not telling her, and that whatever it was, she was not going to like it.

She had been in the lower alleys often enough to know when someone was trailing her, and the media photographer was not being nearly as innocuous as the kids Leo usually set to watching her. Still, that was part of the plan, so she ignored him while turning down the alley where Leo was set to ambush her.

When he stepped out from the shadows cloaking a narrow slot between two buildings, Harry could not help starting slightly in surprise. It was one thing to discuss the idea academically, and quite another to actually see Leo looking exactly the same as she had as Rigel. Almost like looking in a mirror considering that was the appearance she had worn for so long. “Harry, Harry it’s me, Rigel” he said, glancing around furtively. Harry had to give him credit, he was an accomplished actor.

“Rigel?!” She let her eyes widen in a mixture of surprise and fear. Leo was not the only one who could put on a show for their audience. “What are you doing here? I thought you had fled the country by now! If they catch you…”

“I couldn’t leave without seeing you one last time.” The longing in his voice took Harry aback, freezing her in place as Leo stepped closer, standing right in front of her, less than an arm’s length between them.

“W-what do you mean?” Harry took a step back, but Leo followed her.

“I know I lied to you about being a halfblood, but it was to keep you safe. I…I hope it doesn’t change how you feel.” Harry went to open her mouth, but ‘Rigel’ cut her off before she could say anything. “We don’t have much time. I’m sorry for lying, but I am glad you are okay. I guess this is goodbye…”

“I–” Whatever she was going to say was cut off when Leo’s lips pressed to her own. It was a light touch, though no less passionate because of that, and ‘Rigel’ broke it off before Harry could even process what happened, much less react.

“I-I wish you all the best, we probably won’t see each other again so I’m sorry, but my feelings for you are real. I know you love me too, but I hope you can move on, find someone else, someone better.” A tear glistened in the corner of his eyes. “You deserve better than me,” he whispered before turning and running the other way.

Harry briefly wondered if he could make that sound so convincing because his feelings were real. Now she knew why Archie had been looking so smug about the whole thing, it was probably his idea in the first place to cast the two of them as lovers and Leo had jumped right on it. She turned slowly, her feet dragging slightly as she made her way back towards home already dreading the fallout from this. It was going in the papers, there was absolutely zero doubt about that. At least, the rational part of her whispered, there will be no more doubt about you and Rigel being the same person.

That had, after all, been a very real fear. Uncle Remus because of his time in the lower alleys and Snape because he knew both Rigel and Harry being two of the highest people on that list. Not to mention she would not put it past Pansy at least to put the pieces together if given the chance. Speaking of which, Pansy at least would come looking for her, and she would not be surprised if others who had known Rigel did likewise, especially after this.

It was only the next day when James called her into his home office with a weird note in his voice. Harry sighed, she should have known they would have wanted to get it printed as quickly as possible, though a single day was still a rather impressive accomplishment. “Care to explain?” her father said, pointing at the newspaper he held.

Harry took it, looking at the headline splashed in large print across the front page. “ **Rigel and Harriet Potter’s Tragic Love!** ” Right below the headline was a perfectly captured picture of her and Leo as Rigel kissing. She scanned through the article to give herself a moment to think of an answer.

Apparently, her and Rigel had hit it off as soon as they had met, bonding over a shared love of potions. The fast friendship had turned into something more and she had selflessly allowed Archie to take her place at AIM so that Rigel could go to Hogwarts even though he would not have been able to otherwise. He even lied to her about his blood status, despite the lie hurting him, so if he was caught, she could not be charged. When the deception came out, he fled, but unable to leave his love without one last goodbye, he tracked her down for one last passionate goodbye. They even included his words begging her to move on and find someone else.

She slowly turned to James, who was staring down at her with his arms crossed. She opened her mouth to deny the paper before realizing that would jeopardize what remained of their ruse. “He liked potions?” she said weakly, the statement coming out as more of a question even as she mentally vowed retribution on Archie for getting her into this position. She could see the benefits, but that did not make it any easier to face James.

The man sighed, rubbing his forehead with one hand. “You really know how to pick them, huh fawn? After a speech like that, even I find it hard to dislike the boy.” He turned serious again. “It still won’t stop me from trying to bring him in though.”

“I know dad, thanks for understanding.” Harry stepped forward and hugged James, who seemed surprised. Truthfully it was as much to hide the guilt she felt and the tears prickling the corner of her eyes as it was to show her thankfulness to her dad.

She stepped back, having regained her composure and James gave her a tired smile. It made Harry wonder just how hard he’d been working, both to find Rigel and with the hunt for Voldemort. “Just…no more lies, okay?”

The simple sentence was like a punch to Harry’s gut and she barely held back a wince. Instead, she forced herself to smile and nod. “Okay.” Inside she could not help but wonder how fractured his trust in her would be if he found out the truth. Would James and Lily ever be able to trust her again? Then another realization hit her just as hard. She had gotten used to referring to them by name as Rigel, so much so that even now she was doing so as Harry. When was the last time she had called them mom and dad inside her head? Would she even be their daughter by the end of this? She shook her head, such thoughts were counterproductive, and likely baseless anyway, but that did not stop a small seed of doubt from taking root.

When he began questioning her on the incident, attempting to get any and all details, she answered him to the best of her ability. Of course leaving the details about ‘Rigel’s true identity and the fact that she had set the meeting up out. Twenty minutes passed before James seemed satisfied he had gotten all the information he was going to out of her and went back to working, leaving her to excuse herself.

When she met with Archie later for their scheduled time together, she gave him an unimpressed glare. “You set this up, didn’t you?”

His smile was far too mischievous to make his feigned innocence anywhere close to believable. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean, Harry.”

“You and Leo, you had way too much fun putting that together. You could have at least told me, then I could have acted my part better.” Or argued against the whole idea, though that part went unsaid both of them knew it was what she would have done.

“Oh, you did splendidly,” her cousin replied with a wide grin. “Besides, if we had told you beforehand, it would not have been nearly as much fun.” His face turned serious for a moment. “Leo reports that while aurors searched through the Lower Alleys for Rigel, it was rather cursory and they did not disturb anyone. Everyone is safe enough.”

Harry let out a sigh of relief. The one snag in their plan was that the aurors would descend on the Lower Alleys at the report of Rigel being there. Luckily it seemed Leo had managed to sequester himself away long enough for the Polyjuice to wear off, and the aurors apparently thought Rigel had not stuck around after their meet up and did not bother with a comprehensive search. Though she was mildly surprised she herself had not been questioned. Perhaps James was stalling them for the moment. Not that she thought another auror would be able to get anything out of her she had not already told him.

Still, it seemed their deception had gone off without a hitch, cementing in the eyes of most that Rigel and Harry were two different people. There were some who might still have suspicions, but they should, for now at least, be allayed. Perhaps a more solid alibi could be constructed in the future, for now Harry was content to attempt to rebuild some of the trust she had lost with her parents and work on her brewing. The future would come as it was wont, she had learned that attempting to predict what it would throw at her was a futile endeavor.

\---------------

\---Pansy Parkinson---  
Pansy stared down at the newspaper in her hands, idly wondering whether shock, disbelief, amusement, or resignation best described her current feelings. Her, Draco, Millicent, and Blaise had met up in Diagon Alley, both so as not to prevail unduly upon any one family’s hospitality, and to achieve a modicum of privacy about this meeting. She had taken it upon herself to be the de facto leader of this little meeting, both as part of the silver trio and the fact that Draco, the other possibility, was, well, a boy. He was charming in his own way, but clearly not the best choice to lead an investigation.

“I think by this point all of us have had a chance to read the article,” Pansy started, glancing around at the other where they all sat around a table tucked away in the corner of a small café. “Thoughts?”

Draco was glaring at the article in question as though it had personally offended him, which Pansy would not have been surprised to find was the case. It was Blaise who spoke up first, however. “It is…plausible,” he said after a moment. “It seems obvious that Miss Potter was involved in the deception more than she would have the public believe, meaning it is conceivable that her and Rigel could have spent a good deal of time together. Considering their shared interest in potions…” He gave a small shrug.

Millicent nodded thoughtfully. “And if Rigel had been laying low in the states it would explain why none of my contacts knew anything. Though if that is true, you have to commend him for avoiding the aurors for so long.”

“He’s not going to stick around though,” Pansy said definitively. “It was risk enough to meet Harry at all, he’s not going to put her or himself in any more danger by trying to stay nearby.”

“Do we know that was our Rigel?” Blaise asked quietly.

At that Draco looked up. “What do you mean?” he asked.

The other boy frowned, then shook his head. “Nevermind, just an idle thought.”

Millicent picked up the newspaper. “You deserve better than me,” she said, before putting it back down and raising her eyebrows. “That certainly sounds like the Rigel we all know and love,” she said drily.

Pansy frowned, tapping the table with one slender fingertip. “It would certainly explain the fondness he seemed to have for his cousin.” Her eyebrows narrowed. “But something doesn’t add up.”  
Blaise quirked an eyebrow curiously. “Oh?”

She shook her head, her blonde tresses swaying behind her. “I thought for sure that Rigel had decided to live without love. It could be that he was simply hiding it, but there should have been traces.” She was very good at reading people, and she knew it. For her to have misread Rigel so badly on this one issue when she had been able to see through on most other things just did not sit right with her.

Draco frowned. “That’s right, you said as much at the dance if I recall. Back then there was no reason to suspect their deception was in danger so there was no reason to push Harry away. It makes little sense, he had to know it could not last forever, that they could not be together forever. So why try in the first place? That doesn’t seem like something Rigel would do.”

A good point, and add that onto the fact that a reporter just happened to catch them at the perfect moment, when Rigel had been evading the authorities with ease for over a month was just shy of unbelievable. It was, of course, possible that the reporter spotted Harriett and decided to trail her. Then again, it was also possible that the entire thing was a set up by Rigel. If the second was true though, what possible purpose could it serve?

Considering Rigel specifically stated he had not told Harriett about his blood status, that would cement her innocence in that matter. Though as the aurors had not followed up about it, such an action was not required. Was it possible this was exactly as it seemed? Pansy’s instincts said no, that there was something going on here that she was not seeing. As she was wracking her brain for clues, the others were continuing the discussion.

“Love makes people do things they might not otherwise,” Blaise pointed out calmly. “It is not as if we have a frame of reference for what Rigel would do if he fell in love.”

“That’s because he didn’t let himself fall in love,” Draco said, a tinge of frustration, and perhaps longing in his voice.

“Not to anyone outside the ruse. Getting to close to anyone not in the know would be very dangerous for him.” The other boy remained unruffled.

Get too close…that struck a chord somewhere in Pansy’s mind. She frowned, remembering back when Draco had been overprotective, preventing people from getting too close, physically, to Rigel. As if a puzzle putting itself together, more and more pieces slotted in. How Rigel slept in his clothes, was somewhat shy about undressed boys, never changed in front of anyone else, it all pointed to one, groundbreaking conclusion. The question was, what?

“How?” Millicent asked, her eyes narrowing slightly. “Dangerous for whoever he was close to, perhaps, but considering how good he was at keeping secrets, I doubt the risk of saying something incriminating would have risen very much.”

“Unless it wasn’t about what me might say, but about what he might _show_ ,” Pansy said slowly. Her eyes widened. “What if ‘he’ was not a he at all.” Her eyes flickered across her companions. “What if Rigel was a _girl_?”

“Rigel did not look feminine,” Blaise pointed out.

“Neither did Harriett,” Pansy countered, now warming up to her idea. “If you recall, the girl we met at the Potter’s was very different in personality than the one we met at the ball. A reasonable assumption would then be that those were two different people, one Harriett and one Archie most likely. The ball was most likely Archie, using either Polyjuice or a metamorphmagus ability, since that is known to run in the black family. So the Harriett at the birthday party, who looked exactly like Rigel, was the true Harriett.”

Blaise frowned slightly. “What are you implying?”

“What if Rigel was actually Harriett Potter?” She pointed at the newspaper in front of them. “What if this whole thing was fabricated by her to give herself a solid alibi?”

Stunned silence prevailed at the table for a long moment. Not because any of them could not believe it, but because it made so much sense. “They never involved a third party at all,” Blaise said slowly, before his mouth twisted upwards into a smirk. “Ingenious. She must have had a rather well put together fallback plan for exactly this circumstance.”

“And since ‘Rigel’ doesn’t actually exist, there is no danger of him being caught.” Millicent laughed, leaning back in her chair.

Pansy smiled. “Well, that doesn’t change my plans. I still want to speak to Harriett, though now for a slightly different reason.”

“We still need to confirm this,” Blaise pointed out.

Millicent waved a hand. “Yes, but I think at this point it is almost certain. I can’t call off my contacts without raising suspicion, but in a month or two I can ‘give up’. The real problem is finding a way to talk to Rigel in the first place. She has not answered my letter.”

“Nor mine,” Pansy volunteered. “I also tried to visit and was turned away.” Not that she was surprised by that. She doubted Mister Potter appreciated Rigel’s school friends coming by to try and talk with his daughter, especially one who was a child of a dark aligned family. It did allow her to learn, however, that Harriett was grounded for the moment, which was why she had not seen the girl around Diagon Alley.

“So what do you propose?” Draco asked.

The blonde girl frowned, thinking. “Her father is even less likely to let her out after this,” – here she tapped the newspaper – “but he will not keep her confined forever. Give it a week or so and she will be back out, to get potions ingredients if nothing else.”

Blaise nodded. “We can wait. Now that we know exactly where Rigel is and that the odds of her being caught are near zero, there is no rush.”

“I don’t think this needs to be said,” Pansy stated, glancing around at the other three, “but we cannot tell anyone else about this. Not our parents, not even our other friends. There is way too much at stake here to risk it, and as angry as I am at Rigel for hiding all this from us, that does not mean I want her to go to Azkaban.” A series of nods was her answer.

“On that note, I think we should adjourn,” Blaise said, rising to his feet. “If I may, no mentioning this in owls, only in person. And I think we should only meet in pairs after this, more secure that way. It would hardly do for four of Rigel’s closest friends to be seen meeting together regularly.”

Pansy nodded her agreement. “A good idea. I think we all need some time to process this anyway.”

\---------------

\--Severus Snape—  
The esteemed potions master of Hogwarts did not normally read the paper, giving the cover a cursory glance at most before putting the worthless waste of paper aside. Once in a very long while, however, the rag that passed itself off as a newspaper managed to print something actually worth the ink used. 

This particular article, Snape thought as he looked down at the picture of Rigel that Potter chit kissing, just barely managed to squeak over the threshold, and only because it was about the two most promising students he had ever had the pleasure of working with.

To be honest, such a development explained a few things that Snape had been wondering about. No doubt this was why Rigel had been so insistent he be allowed to share everything he learned from Snape with Harriett. It also had the potential to explain something else that had been bothering him.

He already knew that Rigel did not have an aura and from his collaboration with the Potter heiress he had realized that her aura was constructed. No doubt to make others underestimate her, as he had almost done himself. Regardless, he could easily see Rigel teaching how to suppress her aura, then the two of them figuring out aura projection.

This also vindicated his spell’s result that Rigel was still here in England. Though where he was now was a different matter. Reason indicated that the only reason he had stuck around was to say farewell to his…lover. It made sense, therefore, for him to attempt to get as far away as possible now that that was accomplished.

Snape’s frown deepened, his expressions enough to have sent students scurrying in fear had any been around to see it. If he had, it would make finding the boy far more difficult. Perhaps he should attempt the scrying spell again in a few days, as tiring as it was. It was not as though the imbued medi-minis were going to lose their magic anytime soon.

Or perhaps he could simply wait. Rigel had a knack for drawing trouble towards himself, the sort of trouble that tended to make some sort of impact. All he had to do was keep his ears open for any news that could be the boy getting drawn into yet another crisis.

Truly, first year with first Lee Jordan and then the Sleeping Sickness, second year with the basilisk, third year with Peter Pettigrew, and now fourth year with the tournament. Not a single year had gone by without him getting in over his head and somehow coming out the other end alive. It was a marvel.

Still, he was not going to rely on news alone to find his wayward apprentice. One of, if not the best potioneer of the modern day, and Snape _would_ not let his talents go to waste so easily. He would track the boy down, that much was a given, it was only a matter of time.

\---------------

\--Caelum Lestrange—  
Caelum Lestrange’s feelings were a cocktail he had no desire to even attempt to sort out. Though the main two were an odd mix of resentment, anger, and a small lingering guilt that he refused to acknowledge. Who was Harriett to say that teaching him was a mistake? All he had done was make a potion, it is not as though he knew what it was going to be used for.

He glanced down at the newspaper sitting on the counter in front of him. He was in his brewing room, the same one he and Harriett had used to brew the Liberespirare. He had come up here after first seeing the article with a half formed idea to brew something to attempt to calm down, but instead he had opted to stand here and glower down at the offending piece of paper.

At least now he had a decent idea of why the girl had been so mad at him. Of course she would get all prissy when the person his potion had been used against was her lover. His glower deepened. And of course that lover just happened to be that idiot Rigel. The same one who had embarrassed him in front of an entire group of people, including his mother and even Mr. Riddle. He ground his teeth together remembering the incident. Harriett was far too good for such an ingrate.

Not that he had intentions in that direction himself. Such an idea was absurd in the extreme. The only reason he even entertained the girl was because she was so good at potion making, enough to look past her inferior status and work together with her. Not to mention most of idiots around were so incompetent they could not even duplicate her brewing technique.

Still, none of that meant he had romantic intentions towards her. No, the anger he felt at the article was simply because that waste of air Rigel had managed to seduce _his_ potions partner. Not that it was likely they would work together after this.

Realizing the direction his thoughts were taking, Caelum crumpled up the newspaper angrily and tossing it in the bin before making his way to his ingredient storeroom. He simply took what he needed without even really thinking and started brewing.

It was only when he reached the imbuing stage that he realized he had put together the neutral base used for shaped imbuing. With a frustrated growl, he shaped his magic into a spell before letting it flow down the link he had made between his core and the potion.

He would show Harriett just how worthless that pretender was and he would get her to work with him again, even if he had to force her to see just how good his skills were. He was one of the only other people who could get her ridiculous imbuing technique to work after all. Her anger would blow over soon enough and she would come crawling back to apologize.

He would be appropriately gracious of course. After all, it was his potion, and even if he did not know how it would be used, he shared just a small amount in the culpability because he brewed it. He nodded, a small smile gracing his face for the first time as he finished stoppering the last of the potion bottles. Yes, all he had to do was wait, he could be patient for now.


	2. Chapter 2

\---Harriett Potter---  
Surprisingly, it was only another two weeks later that James…no, that her dad mostly released her from her house arrest. When she asked him about it, he simply said, “If you are going to regain our trust, then I need to give you a chance show you can be trusted.” A small chuckle followed and he reached over to ruffle her hair. “You can’t do that locked away in our house all the time. Besides, I know you were brewing for someone in the alleys, this will be a chance to continue that.”

She had been understandably surprised at that. “I thought you wouldn’t approve of that,” she had asked cautiously.

Her father sighed. “Honestly? I don’t, really, but I can see no harm in it and you obviously enjoy it. So go ahead little Fawn, just let me know if people are bothering you too much or if you see anyone suspicious around.”

At that she had smiled and given him a quick hug. As part of an effort to try and make up, even a little bit, for all the pain she had put her parents through she had been consciously trying to be more physically affectionate, which had led to her being freer with her hugs than usual. “Thanks dad.”

That led to her being here, standing in front of the Serpent’s Storeroom with a crate of bottles in hand. It had been quite a while since she had had a chance to send potions here, and even longer since she had last been here in person. At least Leo’s people seemed to be keeping the more unsavory types off of her. Considering her new appearance, she thought it likely she would have been approached already otherwise.

With a small sigh, she pushed the door open and walked in. Krait looked up from behind the counter. He blinked for a moment. “Hello miss, can I help you?” Then he saw the crate of bottles in her arms and did a double take. “Wait, _Harry?!”_

“That’s me,” she replied with a smile, going to deposit the potions where they belonged.

He snorted. “I didn’t think I’d see you again girl, not after that whole fiasco with the tournament.”

Harry shrugged. “I’m finally off house arrest, and I’d rather be brewing for you or experimenting than doing anything else. Even if I don’t need the money anymore, it would be a shame to disappoint all the customers who have been coming here for quality potions.”

Krait gave a crooked grin. “You say that as if you’re the only brewer I got.”

“Nope, only the best one,” she replied with a cheeky smile. It was a relief, interacting Krait. There was no judgement, no sense of perpetual lies, just the familiarity of a potions seller and his brewer.

“Cheeky brat,” Krait grumbled, but there was no heat behind it, and a ghost of a smile touched his lips. He pulled out a piece of a parchment and a quill, scribbling something down before handing it to Harry. “Here, these are the potions that I could use more of right now. I’ll get you a more comprehensive list next time you stop by.”

“Alright, see you Krait.” He just waved as she grabbed a pair of crates and started making her way back towards Diagon Alley. She briefly wondered where Leo was, but regretfully tucked the thought away. He could not have known she was coming to the alleys today.

Even as she thought that, she felt a hand fall lightly on her shoulder from behind. She spun, leaping backwards and casting a weightless charm on the crates so she could let go without having them crash to the ground. She was about to follow up with an attack spell, most likely a stunner, when she recognized who it was.

She stopped, trying to even her breathing out as she listened to the pounding of her heart. “Leo, don’t sneak up on me like that!”

Leo held up his hands, chuckling slightly. “Sorry, I guess you have reason to be paranoid.

Harry simply stood and took a deep breath, letting her heartbeat even out. “What are you doing here Leo?” She sighed, rubbing her forehead with a small smile before reaching down to retrieve her crates. “Here for me I’m guessing?”

He nodded, stepping forward to take the bottles out of her hands. Knowing it would not be worth it to try and argue, she let him. “Cora spotted you in Diagon and ran to tell me. Since you went to Krait’s, does that mean your house arrest is over?”

“Yes, my dad is allowing me out of the house now.”

“And you didn’t think to come to visit us at the Dancing Phoenix,” Leo said in what was an obviously fake hurt tone. Seriousness crept back into his face. “Seriously though Harry, if you need to talk, to vent, anything, you know you have me, right?”

Harry smiled, true gratitude in her eyes. “I know Leo, thank you.” By then they had nearly reached the Leaky Cauldron and she waved to Leo. “I’ll come visit soon, I promise.”

“I’ll hold you to that!” he replied as turned, winking as he returned the wave before heading back towards the lower alleys.

When she flooed back to the Potter’s house in Godric Hollow, it was there was someone waiting for her at the fireplace. “Uncle Remus?” she asked as she dusted herself off.

He smiled at her. “James had to head into the office for some reason or other to do with the hunt and asked me to come over.”

“Let me guess, he also asked you to track me down if I stayed out too late,” Harry said drily, to which Remus just gave another smile and a small shrug. She laughed. “At least he didn’t ask you follow me on my outing.”

“Your father –”

“I know.” She gave a small sigh, but smiled all the same. “Dad is worried about people who will come after me because of my connection to everything, and at the same time doesn’t yet fully trust me. I get it, I really do. I’m not going to do anything to endanger that.” She gave another, deeper sigh. “It hurts, not having them trust me. I know I brought it on myself, and I don’t regret what we did but…it still hurts.”

Remus took the crates from her hands, helping her to store them away in her lab. “That’s to be expected, you were lying to them, and me, for four years. That is not something you can recover from quickly.” He turned to look at her, his eyes piercing. “Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

“We couldn’t tell dad, that would have put him in conflict with his job, we were breaking the law after all. Sirius really wanted his son to attend Hogwarts, enough that he would not have listened to anything we said.”

“That still leaves your mother and I,” the werewolf pointed out reasonably.

Harry looked down. “I didn’t think you guys would let us either,” she said plainly. “You would have asked questions, wanted to meet Rigel. If it had come out that he was a halfblood? Any ideas of continuing would have died right then and there.”

“With good reason. Being involved in blood identity theft could land you in Azkaban, no one here wants to see you end up there.”

“And that’s part of the reason why I did not tell any of you,” Harry replied quietly.

Remus looked at her sharply. “You knew?”

She shook her head. “I did not say that. We never asked, just assumed he was pureblood, but I always considered it as a possibility.”

“So,” her uncle turned towards her as they entered the dining room, a small smile on his face. “You were in love with this ‘Rigel’?”

Harry groaned. “Not you too.”

Remus just chuckled. “I’m not judging. He seemed like a rather polite kid and was nice enough.” He nodded at the table, on which resided a small pile of papers. “The mail came in a bit after James left, so he has not had the time to go through it yet. I think I saw some letters addressed to you if you wish to take a look.”

“Thanks Uncle Remus.” She hurried over to the table, sorting through the stack. It contained a multitude of letters addressed to her, though only three of them really caught her interest. One was from Pansy, one from Snape, and the last from Caelum Lestrange. That one she held for a moment before tossing it back in the pile. He was not someone she wanted to deal with at the moment.

The other two letters safely secure in her hands, she retreated to her room to read them. The letter from Snape went first, and in usual fashion it was rather short and to the point.

  


_Miss Potter,  
One promising student has vanished on me, I have no plans  
to let another do the same. Write back as soon as possible with the  
next time you are free to meet. I realize Rigel was sharing what  
he learned from me with you, but I wish to assess your progress  
before deciding how to proceed._

  


Pansy’s letter was much longer, and Harry read through it three times, her stomach sinking deeper each time. 

  


_Dear Harriett,  
I hope this letter finds you well, if it finds you at all. Thus  
far none of my attempts at communication seem to have been received  
if the lack of answers is anything to go by. Or perhaps it simply that  
you do not wish to answer. I understand that sentiment, I can imagine  
that talking to Rigel’s school friends would make you somewhat uncomfortable._

  
_However, you and your cousin are our only lead on where Rigel went.  
As the Rigel we knew was not truly your cousin, I would feel more comfortable  
talking to you about this topic. Do not worry, I’m sure Rigel has informed you  
of how close we were, and so you can believe me when I say I do not wish for  
any harm to come to him and will not reveal anything we discuss to anyone  
else._

_I would implore you to allow us to meet. I will not give up on  
searching, even if you refuse, but it would make it that much harder to  
reunite with our friend. I’m sure, even if he would never admit it, Rigel  
misses us as well, though you would know that better than I would. After  
all, you and he were rather close. Close enough you were mistaken for  
each other more than once._

_Which brings me to the last part of this letter. but the way the two of  
you seemed to know everything the other did, and of course when Rigel  
mentioned that saying something to him was akin to saying it to you._

_Respectfully,  
Pansy Parkinson_

_P.S. So, you and Rigel in love? I had thought such concerns were beyond  
Rigel. Perhaps I was wrong but was it truly wise to broadcast this? Now  
the whole world has seen you and Rigel together._

  
An innocuous enough letter if one looked only on the surface. Pansy had taken precautions that if they letter fell into another’s hands, they would not immediately spot the truth hidden within. Harry could read between the lines though; somehow the blonde had managed to figure out the truth. She knew that ‘Rigel’ was actually Harriett Potter.

If she was not feeling about ready to cry, she could have laughed. Leave it to Pansy to figure out the truth. Her friend was truly sharp, very little escaped her. She had said ‘we’ though, meaning more than just Pansy knew. At a guess, she would say at least Draco, and possibly Blaise, Millicent, and/or Nott knew as well.

She considered ignoring the request for a moment, but then abandoned the notion. Pansy had directly stated she was not going to give up, and now she knew exactly where to find Rigel. Better to accept, and at least meet on her own terms. She was going to have to think up what to say to them. Lying was out, of course, they had already figured out the truth.

A sigh escaped her as she set a paper and quill on the desk in front of her. She had thought she had been so clever, escaping the revelation of the ruse with only tangential involvement. Now it seemed she had not been careful enough if her friends had already discovered the truth.

She quickly scrawled out a letter, agreeing to a meeting, making no indication of the fact that she knew Pansy knew. She thought the other girl would know that Harry would be able to understand the subtle message, rendering such an acknowledgement unnecessary. She did ask Pansy to set a date, time, and place for the meeting.

She also, while she already had the quill ready. Scribbled a short note to Snape accepting his offer to meet and saying that she could make time at any point during the rest of the week. Rolling up the two pieces of parchment after letting the ink dry, she went back downstairs to mail them. Now all she could do was wait for the replies.

\---Lily Potter---  
It was an odd mix of emotions that swirled within Lily, even now over a month after the fateful events during the final event of the Triwizard Tournament. There was pride, even if only a small amount, at the lengths they went to in order to achieve their dreams. That Harriett would give up going to an actual school in order to let Archie learn healing, and to let this Rigel go to Hogwarts was very selfless of her.

Of course, that was only if the idea that had been stewing in the back of her mind for a while was not true. Harry had claimed that she was not Rigel but there were a few things that were slowly adding up in her mind to point in that direction.

First was a talk she had with Remus where he mentioned he had not seen Harry around the lower alleys when he had visited during the school year. Second was the interaction at the Soiree where Addy had called Rigel, ‘Harry’. Third was a bit less of an obvious indicator, but the way Rigel rushed to help Remus during third year was a little suspicious when one considered he was not part of the family.

Individually none of them would be enough to suspect her, but taken together it painted a fairly incriminating picture. The fact that Remus agreed with her on all of the above points only added to her certainty. The only problem was trying to approach Harry with it.

Lily had no doubt her daughter would have no qualms flat out denying it if she told her what she suspected. Not only that, but she thought it likely for Harry to have come up with excuses for each of them. She was not willing to leave it forever, however, and had decided to talk to the girl tonight after dinner.

Dinner itself was a rather quiet affair, with just the Potters. No one seemed inclined to break the silence that hovered over the table, her love no doubt thinking about his work and Harry seemed unwilling to speak up. She still seemed to be on tiptoes around him after the newspaper of her and Rigel had come out.

After they finished, and the clean up was taken care of, Lily drew Harry aside. “Yes mom?” her daughter asked politely.

She took a breath, then decided to start directly. “Harry, are you Rigel?”

The girl blinked, and Lily had to give her daughter credit, if she was lying there were no tells. “No. I already told dad when he first came to get me.”

“Would you tell me if you were?”

That question seemed to catch her flat footed. “Where is this coming from?” Harry asked instead of answering the question.

“I have reasons to suspect. Remus never saw you around the Lower Alleys during the school year, nor did he hear anything to suggest you were there.”

“Of course not. If he saw me then he would know I was not in America, and I asked everyone not to say anything.” She gave a small smile. “They would not tell on me, even to my uncle, if I asked them not to.”

Lily nodded. “During Rigel’s third year, he risked grievous harm to himself to help Remus out when the animals went crazy. That is not something someone does for what is, to them, basically a stranger.”

Harry grimaced slightly. “You saw the newspaper, I guess he did not want to let my uncle get hurt out of some obligation towards me.”

A small smile played on her mother’s face. So far, it seemed she had been correct about how this conversation would go. It was her next point though that was the strongest. “At the Soiree, little Addy called Rigel, ‘Harry’.”

“We look a lot alike,” the girl said with a small shrug. “You said it yourself.”

“True, but I did a little reading recently. It seems children of magical parents recognize the people around them using their magical signatures. Are you telling me that Rigel’s magical signature is so close to yours that she would mistake one of you for the other?”

“I guess.” Harry’s voice had lost a lot of the confidence, and she was starting to look slightly cornered, so Lily went for the kill.

“And speaking of which, Addy seemed not to like you at first. When I remembered that, I thought that perhaps you had been suppressing your aura. So I wrote to Snape to ask him about Rigel’s aura, and he told me the boy did not have one. It is not much of a stretch to assume you learned how to project a false aura, which would be how Snape never noticed that you and Rigel were the same person.”

“I –” Lily held up a hand to stop her.

She had made a very good case, and she honestly believed that Harry was Rigel, but she wanted to the girl to confess herself. “So I will ask you again, Harriett, and this time I promise I will accept your answer, whatever it might be. Are you Rigel?”

Lily though she saw Harry’s shoulders shaking slightly, though it could have been a trick of her mind. “No, I am not,” she said clearly, though there was the faintest hint of a catch in her voice.

Having given her word, Lily let it go. She still had her doubts, even more so now than at the beginning of the conversation, but it was obvious her daughter was not going to admit it. If she did not want to risk driving her away even further, then she was going to have to let it go.

Still, she was fairly certain even without an admission, and just because she was not going to press Harry any further on the subject did not mean she was going around doing nothing. For instance, they were attempting to get the restriction on Hogwarts to only allow entry to purebloods removed. Hopefully, if that succeeded it would lessen the impact if it ever did come out that Rigel was actually Harriett Potter.

Aside from that, she was making a few careful side preparations in the event of a worst case scenario and their family was forced to flee. There was no way she was going to allow her daughter to go to Azkaban.

\---Severus Snape---  
Severus Snape strode through the doors into the Potions Guild determined to leave with answers. When the Potter girl had replied to his letter, he had wasted no time in setting up a meeting as soon as feasibly possible. While there were a few matters related to potions he wished to discuss, he was also determined to question her about his wayward apprentice.

There was simply no way that the girl had as little knowledge about the whole thing as she would have people believe. Especially not if she truly was – he sneered – having an affair with Rigel.

Reaching the lab the two of them had booked for the afternoon, he knocked briskly at the door. Almost immediately it opened to reveal a girl, who despite looking entirely different than he remembered, was without a doubt the Potters’ brat. Her fake aura had not changed a whit since the last time he had seen her.

The way the girl was almost bouncing on the balls of her feet was nearly enough to give him a headache. “What did you wish to discuss?” she asked, excitement clear in her voice.

“Calm down brat,” he replied with a glare. “I doubt you are going to enjoy part of the discussion we are going to have.”

She stilled, staring up at him. “You want to talk about Rigel.” It was a statement of fact, rather than a question.

“Of course, if you think I am going to simply let the best apprentice I’ve had run off, then you are sadly mistaken.” The girl beamed slightly, though it was quickly hidden, so much so that if he had not been looking for that exact reaction he would have missed it.

“He’s the only apprentice you’ve ever had,” she pointed out reasonably.

“My point still stands.” His gaze sharpened. “And I believe you know far more than you have revealed about Rigel.”

She returned his gaze calmly. “And what makes you think that?”

He gave her his best withering glare, which seemed to affect her not at all. “If you were as close to the boy as you would have everyone believe, then it is hard to believe you did not know his blood identity, or even his real name.”

“But not impossible. The fact that he was a halfblood never came up, and there was no way he was going to offer the information after we offered him a place at Hogwarts.”

Snape smirked slightly. “Unless you started the conversation off by offering him said place, then there was no reason to hide his name from you, was there?” The girl opened her mouth, but to his satisfaction, seemed to have no retort to that.

“Even if I knew his name, why would I betray his trust by giving it out?” she asked instead.

“I won’t ask for it,” he replied, taking a perverse pleasure in seeing the surprise flicker across her face. “If you do one simple task for me.”

Her face grew wary, and rightly so. “What?”

“Link your core with mine.” There it was, gone so fast it could have just been his imagination, but Snape thought the flicker of consternation in the girl’s eyes was rather real. He raised an eyebrow. “It is a simple enough request that you should be able to do it with ease.”

“May I ask why you want to do this?” she asked, setting her jaw stubbornly in a face so reminiscent of Rigel.

“You may.”

She waited for a moment, but when it was clear no more was forthcoming, she shook her head. “Then I must refuse.”

“Then I assume you and Rigel are one and the same person?”

He had the singularly amusing view of Harriett Potter spluttering in surprise. “W-what?” she asked after taking a moment to regain some semblance of calm.

“Did you really think you could hide it from me? You were not clever enough by half to keep such a secret once I was actively searching for it.” He shook his head. “There were far too many similarities between you and ‘Rigel’ to be coincidences, and your refusal to link your core to mine, an act which Rigel has already done, simply confirms it.”

“But –”

Snape held up a hand, uninterested in hearing any inane excuses that his student might come up with. “Enough. I have to consider how this will affect things” He frowned at her. “Being an nationally wanted criminal is going to make it hard to continue your apprenticeship.”

“But not impossible?” Her eyes had widened, and were looking at him like he was offering her the world on a silver platter.

He harumphed. “We’ll see,” was all he would say, though he noted with annoyance it did not dampen her enthusiasm at all. “When I figure something out, I will contact you.” With a swish of his cloak, he turned and strode out, his mind already working on the problem at hand.

\---Harriett Potter---  
Harry could freely admit to herself that she was freaking out. All her carefully laid plans, her fallbacks, and it seemed people were still figuring out the truth left and right. True, it was only those closest to her either as Harry or as Rigel, but that did not make it much better. The only redeeming factor was that none of those who knew were likely to share the information.

Speaking of people who had figured it out, her mind wandered back to the conversation she had had with her mom. Lily knew, or least strongly suspected, and Harry was not naïve enough to think that her denial would mean anything.

Hopefully mom would not tell anyone. She thought that Lily would refrain from telling James for the moment, while he was still heading the team searching for Rigel. As for Uncle Remus and Uncle Sirius, she doubted her mother would tell Sirius but Remus was fair game. Assuming Remus did not already know.

If anyone else in her family was in a good position to figure it out, it was her uncle. He spent a not inconsiderable amount of time in the Lower Alleys. If he did suspect, though, he had given no sign. No doubt letting her explain on her own time.

She smiled a bit fondly. It was Remus she had gone to for training, and who had agreed to keep the secret of the free dueling tournament. She supposed he had reason to believe he would be one of the first to confide in if everything became too much for her.

While on the topic of being outed, she still had that meeting with Pansy. Having wanted to get it over with, she had agreed to meet the tomorrow, but now she was wondering if she could deal with what that meeting would entail so soon after her meeting with Snape. A meeting which had definitely not turned out the way she expected.

Archie found her laying on her back in the small, enclosed garden, the two having continued the practice of meeting there most days even though neither was confined to their houses any longer.

“Hey Harry, what’s up?” he asked, looking won at her.

“It’s all falling apart,” she replied dully, staring up at him. “Leo, Pansy, Snape, probably Lily and possibly Remus all know now. I was not careful enough in school apparently.”

“Couldn’t that be a good thing?” her cousin asked carefully.

She shot upright, fixing him with a glare. “What do you mean?” she demanded. “The point was that nobody could link me with Rigel. Once they do that, there’s nothing standing between me and a one-way trip to Azkaban.”

“Yet you’re still here,” he pointed out, rather reasonably. “Out of the people you listed, none of them are going to turn you in. Some of them might even be able to help you.

“Help me?”

Archie nodded. “Having Harry meet Rigel and the fact that the two are in love will have solidified in the general people’s mind that the two are different people. However, you are close enough to this that there could still be some sceptics. Having your friends subtly hint towards you not being Rigel could possibly convince even them.”

She sighed, climbing to her feet. “You’re probably right. And since they already know there’s no harm in asking I suppose.”

Her clapped her arm with a big grin. “That’s the spirit. Cheer up, you might be surprised at how supportive they will be over the whole thing.”

“I’ve been lying to them for four years,” she said, giving him a deadpan look.

Her cousin’s grin just widened. “You never tried to hide the fact that you were lying to them.”

Harry threw her hands up in the air. “Fine!” she said, exasperated, though with a smile tugging at her lips. “You win.”

It was amazing how her cousin could always manage to cheer her up. She was even tentatively looking forward to tomorrow’s meeting. Having Pansy’s help could only be a good thing, and if she was being completely honest, deep inside she did not want to lose the other girl’s friendship.

Even if she could have rebuilt the friendship on her own as Harry, it would not be the same. And that was if she could; considering the two were in different places in society and had no real reason to interact, that possibility had seemed rather small. Now though, it seemed she would be able to keep it as Harry, something she had never even dared imagine.

Additionally, she could not deny it was a relief, not having to lie anymore, at least to her. The ever present guilt that Draco had commented on at perpetually lying to her two best friends about who she was, was gone. Replaced by a sense of relief mixed with a bit of trepidation and anticipation.

How Pansy was going to react, what she wanted, all of it would be revealed on the morrow. With this hanging over her head, Harry could already tell it was going to be difficult to fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To everyone that asked for more, and encouraged me to write, well, this is for you. To them and everyone else, thanks for reading! Sorry for the small cliffhanger XD, look at it as a guarantee that I'll be releasing another chapter at some point. Next time is the meeting with Pansy.


	3. Chapter 3

\---Harriett Potter---  
Harry had though Pansy would ask to meet in Diagon Alley, but it seemed she had different plans. It made some sense; it would not do to see her and Pansy together and the subject they would be discussing was one of a rather sensitive nature.

Where she had asked to meet though was a surprise. A small tea place in muggle London, about a block from the Leaky Cauldron. Why her friend had asked to meet in the muggle world was a mystery she doubted she would decipher without asking.

When she arrived at the designated spot, she found Pansy already waiting for her, sipping appreciatively at a small cup of tea. “Have a seat,” the blonde said, her expression revealing nothing of the thoughts or emotions swirling beneath.

Harry sat down, ordering her own cup of tea. They both waited in silence until it arrived whereupon Pansy quickly and subtly threw up a few privacy charms around them.

“So, you wanted to meet?” She did not know what to say. ‘Sorry I lied to you for four years, but it was necessary,’ ‘sorry I’m not the person you thought I was all this time,’ none of it sounded right.

“I did, Miss Potter, or should I say Rigel?” Harry searched Pansy’s face, but it was still carefully guarded, revealing nothing.

“Please, call me Harry.” She sighed. “What do you want Pansy?”

The blonde’s eyes narrowed slightly, then she chuckled. “Draco was very angry with you, calling in the life debt like that.”

Harry gave a small shrug. “It was the only way I could think of to keep him from following me. Plus it denied the use of the Malfoy’s resources searching for Rigel.”

“A clever move,” the blonde replied approvingly. “You should have seen Draco, he was wallowing for days.”

“And you pulled him out of it I’m sure.” Harry smiled in spite of herself. “What did you do, convince him that I was a self-sacrificing idiot who lied to him to keep him safe before running off to face all the trouble myself?”

Pansy raised one delicate eyebrow. “Was I wrong?”

Harry chuckled, shaking her head, surprised at how much she had missed this. There was a tightness building in her chest, a feeling that it could not last. “So, what now?” she asked. She spread her hands. “You found me, figured out the last of my secrets.”

“Now we figure out how to get you out of this monumental mess you’ve gotten yourself into.”

“You’re going to help me?”

Pansy frowned. “Of course, we are your friends after all, and that is what friends do.”

It was Harry’s turn to frown. “We?” she asked, a bit tentatively, wondering how many people were in on it.

“Myself, Draco, Millicent, and Blaise were all there when we pieced together your identity. We have decided to keep the information to just the four of us for the moment, and I’ve instructed the others to learn Occlumency.” Pansy gave a small smile. “I’ve been practicing myself, though a few pointers from someone who already seems to have a good grasp would be welcome.”

It was all Harry could do not to gape, and she remained silent for a long moment. They were going this far for her? “We would have to figure out a time and a reason to meet,” she said, while trying to think of something to say.

“I’m sure no one will mind if I wish to spend time with the former lover of my best friend,” Pansy replied serenely. She chuckled. “That was another nice touch. People will be so caught up in the romance, they will not look beyond it. It has solidified in most people’s minds that you and Rigel are two different people.”

“That was the intention,” Harry muttered. “You don’t mind being friends with a halfblood?”

Pansy gave her a look. “Pureblood, halfblood, Rigel Black, Harriett Potter, you are still you, still the person I became friends with.” She crossed her arms. “You can’t get away from us that easily.”

To her mild horror, Harry felt the beginning of tears prickle at the corners of her eyes. “I don’t deserve you, Pansy.”

“No, you don’t,” the blonde replied primly. “But you’re stuck with me anyway.”

Harry took a steadying breath, reigning her emotions back under control. She could not help it though, the question slipping out before she could stop it. “So we’re still friends?” The words were quiet, almost inaudible.

Pansy’s expression softened. “Of course we are.” A calculating grin touched her lips which, for some reason, made Harry rather uneasy. “I always did think you and Rigel were all too alike.” Her expression turned serious again. “Does anyone else know?”

“No one that is going to turn me in,” Harry replied. “Snape knows, as does my mom, and someone I know from the alleys that you haven’t met.” A list that was already too long in her opinion.

Pansy nodded slowly. “If you trust this friend, then that’s good enough for me. Still, it’s good that there’s a few people. Missus Potter and Professor Snape at least will be putting contingencies in place, which can only be a good thing.”

“Do you think Riddle will figure it out?” That was one of Harry’s biggest worries. The resonance was gone, but there were still obviously enough clues scattered around if her friends and Snape all made the connection.

Pansy frowned. “Maybe, if he considers the possibility it is just barely likely. Though I do not presume to know the thoughts of Lord Riddle. Even if he figures it out, I do not know whether he would go public with the information or not. Both have upsides and downsides.”

“But you will keep an ear open?”

The blonde gave her a smile. “Of course.” She dropped the privacy wards before standing, leaving enough muggle money on their table to pay for both her and Harry’s tea as well as a tip. “Thank you for meeting with me, it was most enlightening.”

Harry raised an eyebrow at her. “It did not seem as though you learned much that you did not already know.”

Pansy raised a finger. “I confirmed you were indeed Rigel, and that the persona you wore at school was, in fact, the real you. And I confirmed I am not the only one who knows and is putting plans together for a worst case scenario.” She gave a small shrug. “There isn’t much I can do, but what I can, I will.”

Harry’s chest felt tight, and there was an odd warmness seeping through her. On sudden impulse, she darted forward and hugged her friend. A hug which was returned warmly. “Thank you, for everything.”

Since they were travelling the same way, the two walked back to the Leaky Cauldron together, a companionable silence hanging between them. 

It still stunned Harry how supportive her friend was being. She was a national criminal, and had been lying to Pansy for four years about who she was, and her sweet, discerning friend not only decided to remain friends, but was even doing her best to help Harry.

When they reached the pub, they parted with a last farewell, each flooing to their separate destinations. Despite everything, Harry could not keep a smile off her face.

After all, with that rather emotional meeting out of the way, she was able to turn her attention to something that she could actually feel proud about. She was still attempting to isolate the mechanism of conversion which took wild magic and converted it into the wizard or witch’s personal magic.

\---Ginerva Weasley---  
Her parents and even brothers had definitely noticed something was wrong with Ginny, none of them knew the reason though, leading to them tiptoeing around her which was rather grating at times. Especially since the roller coaster of emotions she had been on since the tournament had yet to abate.

The fact that Rigel Black was actually not a Black at all, much less a pureblood had not bothered her. Honestly, she could hardly have cared less about it. Whoever he was, he had saved her and that was enough for her.

No, the real problem was that the spirit that had taken control of her body, locked her away from her own magic, and used her to do terrible things _was still out there_. Just the thought made her hand clench into a fist.

Slowly she forced herself to relax, looking down at the small red indents from where her nails had dug into her palm. Fear was not the right word to describe what she was feeling. No, all that ran through her was white hot anger.

The only other person who knew exactly who and what Voldemort was, was Rigel, and he had managed to vanish off the face of the Earth apparently. That brought a small smile to her lips. An entire task force dedicated to hunting him down, and still they failed.

Though perhaps that was because they were not looking in the right place. It seemed rather obvious to her, Rigel’s mindscape avatar had long hair, and Harry was the one who would gain the most from going to Hogwarts in the stead of her cousin.

Perhaps not the most solid of cases, but it was also the simplest explanation. Why get a third party involved at all when Harry was a perfectly good candidate to go to Hogwarts? Her posing as Rigel posed no problem considering they looked like twins.

Not that she was planning on telling anyone Harry’s secret. She still owed Harry a debt for lying for her back during her first year. 

Which brought her back around to the subject of her possessor. He had targeted her once, though more out of opportunity than anything else, but because of that he knew her. And while the rational part of her brain thought it unlikely, there was a part of her that expected him to come after her again.

She could even see it happening, as a sort of revenge on Rigel. After all, he had saved her first year risking his own life to do so. And now Rigel had ruined Voldemort’s plan, all because he was not who he claimed he was.

Or, she was not who she claimed she was, Ginny supposed, considering Rigel was actually a girl. Either way, the point stayed the same. Voldemort would be searching for Rigel, and when he couldn’t find the boy, there were other measures he could resort to. And if she could be used as a hostage once, there was nothing saying she couldn’t be used again.

She was putting spending most of her free time training, just to avoid such an eventuality. If Voldemort did send his followers to kidnap her, they would not find a defenseless girl.

She briefly wondered if she could get Harry to train her. Based on the other girl’s performance during the tournament, both in the dueling and in the final task, she was a prodigious duelist already. She resolved to write a letter to that affect as soon as possible.

\---Pansy Parkinson---  
Back at home, sequestered away in her room for the moment, Pansy had a plentitude of time with which to dissect her most recent interaction with Harriett Potter, who did, indeed, happen to be the same person as Rigel Black.

Well, that and worry about the consequences of the people who knew about it. She dismissed Professor Snape and Mrs. Potter out of hand. Neither would do anything to compromise Harriett and both were intelligent enough to avoid doing it unintentionally.

As to the friend group, Millicent and Blaise could both be trusted to remain discreet as well, and neither had any reason to out him.

Which just left Draco. Pansy loved the boy in her own way, but he could be rather hotheaded at times and she worried that might lead to him slipping at an inopportune moment. She had already had a firm discussion with him on that point, and for the moment that would have to suffice.

It was a bit of an odd thought, that Rigel and Harriett were the same person. It cleared up so many discrepancies, and yet at the same time it was still strange, thinking of Rigel as a female.

She could not fully suppress a chuckle as another similarity between the two hit her. She had considered both of them, at different points, as potential matches for herself. For somewhat similar reasons.

It would have been an idle thought, but then it hit her that the reasons for her parent’s disapproval was rapidly evaporating. With the overthrow of the marriage law, and the momentum firmly in the court of the light, there would be basically zero social stigma against marrying a halfblood.

Furthermore, while as Rigel, Harriett could not allow herself romantic entanglements, as plain Harriett she had no such restrictions. Then she shook herself. Such idle thoughts could save until this whole thing blew over.

Though while she was dwelling on such things, there was Selwyn and Rookwood’s wedding to consider. She was, of course, going to attend. She briefly considered inviting Harriett, but discarded the idea almost immediately. It was far too much of a risk, plus she doubted the other girl’s parents would allow her attendance.

Her thoughts were interrupted by her mother’s voice. “Pansy? Lord Riddle is here and wishes to speak with you.”

Pansy’s eyes shot open and a mixture of fear and adrenaline rushed through her. He could not know she knew, but why else would he want to talk to her. She supposed it was possible someone had seen her with Harry and reported it.

On the whole, however, she found it more likely that he was simply talking to everyone close to Rigel. Why he had waited this long, however, was a mystery.

“I’m coming,” she replied out loud to her mother before rushing to make herself a little more presentable.

She descended quickly, though without appearing rushed, to find that Lord Riddle was sitting in her family’s living area, sipping appreciatively at a cup of tea. He smiled upon seeing her, waving her to sit across from him.

She sat, adopting a demure posture, hands folded in her lap. “You wished to speak with me Lord Riddle?”

“I am led to understand you were quite…close, with ‘Rigel’,” the man replied, watching her carefully. Though at the utterance of the boy’s name, a flicker of loathing and hatred so intense it nearly made her flinch flickered through his eyes.

It was there and gone so fast she almost thought she imagined it…almost. If she were any less skilled at reading other people she doubted she would have caught anything.

“I was, yes,” she replied cautiously.

“Has he contacted you since he vanished?” Pansy looked across at him and had to tear her eyes away from his gaze, so intense was it that it seemed almost to trap her in place, almost dissecting her. Eyes that it was easy to believe could see straight to your soul. Instead, she looked down at her hands, which she was a bit surprised to note had clenched into fists.

“No,” she replied, truthfully. After all, she had contacted Rigel, not the other way around. “Rigel wouldn’t do that, if only to try and keep us away from the fallout.” She gave a small sad smile.

“Do you know who he truly is?”

The question she had been dreading. Taking a small breath, she looked up and met Riddle’s eyes. “No,” she lied. “He never told any of us.”

For a long moment, the two kept their eyes locked. It was Pansy who dropped her gaze first. “Very well, thank you for your cooperation Miss Parkinson.” There was a note of…something in his voice that Pansy could not make out.

He rose smoothly to his feet, giving a polite inclination of his head towards Pansy’s parents, who were standing off to the side to give the pair a semblance of privacy. “Thank you for receiving me on such short notice.”

Rose Parkinson curtsied. “It was no trouble at all, Lord Riddle. It was an honor to have you here.”

With the pleasantries observed, Lord Riddle swept out of the room, his steps somewhat hurried. No doubt he had other important matters to attend to. Pansy stood as well, and was surprised to find her body trembling slightly. Intense was the only descriptor she had to describe the interaction.

And that flash, she had not realized how much Riddle disliked Rigel. Of course, Rigel had single-handedly shifted public support away from him and handicapped him in the process, and to add insult to injury escaped cleanly. That did not make it any less troubling to see.

Right then and there, Pansy decided that if it came down to it, between Lord Riddle and Harriett, she would pick her friend. She had no doubt it would bring her trouble down the line, but then again, that was simply typical of Rigel.

A small smile touched her lips at the thought. A smile which was wiped away when she realized if Riddle had come here, then it was extremely likely we would, or already had, questioned Draco in a similar manner.

She could only hope the boy was able to withstand Lord Riddle’s intense scrutiny. If he could not, if he cracked under the pressure, the results would be unpleasant at best and catastrophic at worst.

\---Voldemort---  
Voldemort seethed, even those closest to him wary of drawing his attention lest they also became the subject of his ire. Not that he would do anything to them, followers were hard enough to come by, he could not afford to drive away the ones he had.

Still, the humiliation he had suffered at the hands of that smug fake Rigel was enough to set his blood to boiling. A lesser version of the same ritual, used on an unsuspecting pureblood had given him magic, but nothing close to the levels he had wanted.

He clenched his hands, once again vowing to make this ‘Rigel’ pay. How, though, was a thought that still eluded him. The boy had managed to disappear of the face of the earth, and on top of that, Voldemort was having to elude the aurors that had been assigned to track him down.

Apparently, causing a massive commotion at the finale of a public tournament was enough to bring the government down on your head. Who would have guessed?

At least avoiding the aurors had been easy enough. So far, at least, with their attention split between him and Rigel it made running circles around them fairly simple. A task that gave him some small amount of amusement.

Back to the subject of Rigel. It seemed he would have to use indirect methods to find the irritant. Not that he was about to underestimate the boy. As annoying as he was, he had been willing to sacrifice his life to stop Voldemort the first time, and the dark wizard had seen him duel. No, underestimating him would be a mistake.

However, if there was one thing he could count on, it was the boy’s weakness when it came to those he cared about. The fool would do anything to protect someone close to him, sacrificing himself to serve as a distraction while that Weasley girl ran for help came to mind.

He glanced down at the newspaper laying on the table he was sitting at, a smirk crossing his lips. And who better to dangle as bait than the girl he had professed to love? He had set his plan in motion, now all had to do was wait for the pieces to fall into place.

He could be patient, after all, it was not as though he was on a time limit. Rigel would be his in time, his to do what he wished with. He would find a way to strip away the boy’s magic and make it his own.

With a swish of his cloak, he rose to his feet. It would not do to idle, not when he could be expanding his followers. His new face was a reminder of the _failure_ he could have been. It was useful, however, when he wished to be charismatic rather than intimidating.

He turned on his heel, and with a definitive _crack_ he was gone.

\---Harriett Potter---  
Since Hogwarts was, for obvious reasons, not available, her and Snape met up at the potions guild. She had been ecstatic when he had sent a letter confirming that he would be continuing to teach her.

Trying the door on the lab they had reserved, she found it unlocked and entered. Snape was already inside, though the lab itself was bare. “I believe you mentioned an interest in using dragon’s blood as a signifying ingredient.”

“Yes sir,” she replied, trying her best not to sound too eager.

Snape sighed. “Albus seemed rather pleased at your interest.” He held out a notebook, which Harry took. A quick perusal showed Dumbledore’s familiar handwriting. “He said he had a few ideas which might prove interesting.”

Harry’s eyes widened as she kept reading before she glanced back upwards at the potions master. “You’ll convey my appreciation to Dumbledore?”

He smirked. “Of course. Feel free to peruse it at your leisure, I have no doubt it is filled with useful information. If there is one person who could be called an expert on dragon’s blood, it is Dumbledore.”

She nodded, before gesturing at the room around them. “Will we not be doing any brewing today?”

Snape shook his head. “I want to you to research the subject more first before we actually try anything. There are a few other things I would like to discuss first though.”

That caught Harry’s interest. “Such as?”

He frowned. “What could have possibly caused you to enact such a fool plan as to take Arcturus’s place at Hogwarts?”

Harry blinked, that was a rather easy question to answer. “To study under you, of course.”

A moment of silence fell between them, as Snape stared at her in equal parts disbelief and exasperation. “You risked Azkaban…simply so you could gain my tutelage?”

Harry gave him a mischievous smile. “Of course, you are the best potions master around, and I wished to learn from the best.”

Snape rubbed his forehead, changing the subject. “Who else knows?”

“Pansy and Draco and possibly Blaise and Millicent as well as a trusted friend from the lower alleys. Other than that, just you and my mother, why?”

“Because I have no wish to lose my apprentice because someone could not keep their mouth shut about the truth,” he replied, with a hard glint in his eye. A frown touched his lips. “It seems I should make time to have a talk with my godson.”

“Do you think Draco will tell somebody?” Harry asked. It was not outside the realms of possibility. She knew he had been badly hurt when she had called in the life debt to prevent his family from searching for her.

“I do not know, but I am not willing to take chances either. Lord Riddle can be…quite convincing and he is rather invested with finding Rigel.”

That was a terrifying thought, though not a surprising one. She had shattered his carefully made plans, and he was understandably furious about it.

“But back to more relevant matters, even if we are not brewing, did you have any ideas as to what you wished to create using dragon’s blood?”

Harry was quite content to lose herself in a potion’s discussion and leave the heavier topics behind for the moment. She could not forget entirely, however. As more people discovered the truth, the larger the chance grew that it would leak out. So no one that knew wished her to be discovered, but who knew when that would change?


End file.
